The Division 2 is Live, And Fans Are Using Other Regions' Servers to Play It

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The Division 2 is launching into its early access period over the next 24 hours in most regions. Here in North America the game will go live on March 12 at 1 a.m. ET/10 p.m. PT. If you've purchased the Ultimate or Gold Editions of The Division 2, you'll be able to jump in and start playing. If you have the Standard Edition, then you'll be waiting until Friday, March 15, 2019 to play.

Despite those official times, the servers are technically up in other regions, including Australia and New Zealand. Some enterprising players have loaded up virtual private network (VPN) services that let it look like they're located in Australia or New Zealand, so they could start playing earlier today. They connect under the VPN until they see the "Mike-01" error code, and then disable the VPN service.

You can use a VPN service like TunnelBear or NordVPN if you want to try it yourself. It's not recommended by us here at USG or by Ubisoft itself. VPN services can sometime introduce lag, and depending on which provider you use, your data may not be safe.

"Ubisoft strongly recommends that players avoid the use of VPN services. Players who decide to use VPN do so at their own discretion while being aware of the potential risks associated," says Ubisoft's Support page.

Some are also reporting that the PlayStation 4 version of The Division 2 is just completely live for Gold and Ultimate Edition owners, despite previously posted start times. I guess that's the flip side of having much larger storage requirements: the PS4 version of The Division 2 had a pre-load requirement of 100 GB of hard drive space, versus 48-52 GB on PC or Xbox One.

The Division 2 is seeing an upswing in popularity after the poor launch of looter shooter competitor Anthem. There are a number of threads on The Division's subreddit expressing excitement for the upcoming launch in light of the growing dissatisfaction with Anthem. Assuming Ubisoft's title doesn't have a similar start, The Division 2 could benefit heavily from the problems of Anthem and Fallout 76. If you're interested in learning more about The Division 2, check out our detailed information guide.

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M.H. Williams is new to the journalism game, but he's been a gamer since the NES first graced American shores. Third-person action-adventure games are his personal poison: Uncharted, Infamous, and Assassin's Creed just to name a few. If you see him around a convention, he's not hard to spot: Black guy, glasses, and a tie.